


Man's Best Friend

by grotkingji



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Animal Attack, Animal Body Horror, Animal Transformation, Arguing, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Dogs, Graphic Description of Sick Animals, Heavy Angst, Internal Conflict, Lots Of Sad, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mentioned Animal Neglect, Nightmares, No Smut, Pets, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Things Go Okay and Then They Go To Shit, Thriller, Unconditional Love, kinda dialogue heavy, mentioned animal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:20:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grotkingji/pseuds/grotkingji
Summary: Felix has always wanted a dog and he's finally convinced his long-term boyfriend Chan to adopt, but at what cost? There’s something off about Bubbles, however Felix’s rose coloured glasses blind him and all Chan can do is sit back and watch it unfold.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix
Comments: 17
Kudos: 51
Collections: Stray Kids SpookFest





	Man's Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF THE TAGS
> 
> If you are not comfortable with imagery of very unwell animals, I would advise that you skip out of this fic. There is no explicit animal abuse or mistreatment and neither character engages in it, however it is mentioned. I do not condone any mistreatment of animals. There is also graphic descriptions of body horror regarding Bubbles the dog at the end. It is not done by anyone, but if you are also uncomfortable with that kind of thing, this fic is not for you. There is not a lot of happy in this, please be aware of that. 
> 
> This was for prompt 18:
> 
> Character A knows his boyfriend has always wanted a pet. So when they move in together, he suggests they adopt one. But as soon as they do, strange things start happening.

He’s brought it up so many times that he’s honestly started giving broken records a run for their money. Chan finds it endearing, the way his boyfriend can somehow drag the idea of getting a dog into any conversation. It’s no surprise that Felix wants a dog of their own, if the almost monthly visits to dog cafes don’t speak for themselves. Felix is lucky that Chan loves dogs almost as much as he does and the only reason they’ve spontaneously driven to the animal shelter is because Chan’s not sure how much longer it’ll be before Lix has his own spontaneous trip. 

They spend hours with the dogs, Felix claiming that he’d get rich one day and adopt them all and they can live together happily in a cozy home by the countryside. The image of Felix surrounded by dogs in a field brings a fond smile to Chan’s face. After some time, Felix says he has two dogs in mind. Chan is more than happy to let his boyfriend pick one and he follows the blond over to a cavalier who looks up at them in a way that plucks at their heart strings. Felix crouches down, hand almost small enough to fit through the bars to let the dog sniff his fingers before scratching behind its ears. Chan squats down to mirror Felix and sticks his own fingers through the bars and laughs when the dog licks him. 

“She’s cute.” Chan says, turning his head to look at the younger. Felix looks back at him with stars in his eyes and nods. 

“She likes you too.” Giggling, Felix gestures to where the small dog is still licking at Chan’s hand. 

One of the shelter employees comes back with some hand sanitiser and wipes to which Chan accepts gratefully and as he wipes his hands clean, Felix makes his way over to another enclosure. It’s in the corner and Chan gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looks at the chart hung on the wall and sees that the labrador’s name is Bubbles. When he gets a good look at Bubbles, he tries to hold back his grimace because Bubbles is very obviously not well. The poor thing is skin and bone and covered in sores where the vets have bandaged them. Despite it all, Felix still bends down to pet the dog through the bars but retracts his hand when Bubbles flinches away. Chan doesn’t join him down by the floor. 

It’s silent. No happy giggling or smiling and the air feels tense. Chan just stares at the dog blankly and it stares back. The employee that had been showing them around clears her throat and Chan jerks his head in her direction. 

“Bubbles was handed in anonymously. We don’t know anything about her history, we just know what the vets have told us.” 

“What have the vets said?” Felix tears his eyes away from Bubbles for the first time since he crouched down as he asks. 

Chan’s sinking gut feeling doesn’t get any better. Instead it gets worse because if Felix is asking what the vets have said, that means that he’s seriously considering adopting Bubbles and as much as Chan feels incredibly heartbroken, there’s a lot of things running in his mind as to why they shouldn’t take Bubbles home. 

“Felix-” 

“The vets have come back and said that Bubbles had a really bad case of worms and is showing signs of abuse. There’s probably a lot of neurological issues as well, since she’s been under a lot of stress.” Listening to the lady talk just sets off more alarms in Chan’s head. “The vets have wormed her but unfortunately she can't get her shots because a lot more can go wrong if she gets them while sick. We’ve got her on a diet plan, we’re doing all we can.” 

“What’s the diet like?” 

“Seriously. Felix we should-” 

Chan’s attempts at getting Felix to properly think this through are ignored as the younger focuses all his attention on the employee who is describing, in depth, portion sizes, brands and scheduling that goes into nursing Bubbles back to health. He can see his boyfriend store literally every piece of information that is being given into his brain and Chan knows in this moment that Felix has made up his mind. In a last effort to make sure Felix is positive that he wants to do this, Chan speaks up once the conversation is over. 

“Hey Lix, can we talk about this first?” He’s desperate at this point and thankfully, Felix rises from his spot on the ground. Chan swallows the collecting saliva in his mouth when he sees the committed look on Felix’s face soften. 

The lady lets them know that she’ll be in the front if they need anything before she kindly steps out, leaving a very apprehensive Chan to take the reins. 

“You know I can’t leave her here.” Felix’s voice is sad.

“This is a massive commitment. Do you even have the time? We both work, we can’t be there for her consistently.” 

“Why are we getting a dog then?” Crossing his arms, Felix sounds defensive and tired.

“That’s not what I meant-” 

“I can work from home. My boss will understand and besides, I’ve done it before.” He’s not lying. Chan knows Felix has worked from home plenty of times, thanks to his job as a data entry clerk but that doesn’t make him feel any less okay. 

“I know but that’s still hours of your day. She’s sick. Like, really sick and I just don’t know if we’d be able to give the time or the patience-.” 

“You mean you don’t know if you can give the time or patience.” 

Felix’s words hurt but Chan really doesn’t think that he’s able to support this dog when he has his own commitments. “I’m not the right person for this.”

“No one else is going to want her.” The implication of what happens after is left unspoken but the weight pulls on Felix’s words.

It pains Chan to hear that and he’s sure it hurts Felix more. It’s reality though, and the fact that he’s just like everyone else refusing to help something that needs it gets very cozy with Chan’s guilty conscience. Maybe he should’ve waited to say yes to a dog, because now he’s not too sure if he’s ready. But Felix is and he’s showing no signs of backing down and Chan knows it's the moral thing to do, realistically, because it’s better than what could happen. 

“It’s a lot of work.” He’s not sure if he’s still trying to convince Felix to let it go or if he’s accepting defeat. 

“I know.” And Felix means it.

They just stare at each other, waiting for what the other will say next. It makes Chan feel uncomfortable, that they seem to be competing over whether they’ll take care of a sick dog when his immediate answer should be ‘yes, a million times yes,’ but his answer just isn’t. He takes a look at Bubbles and sees her still staring right back at him. Her eyes are unusually bright considering her state and something just doesn't sit right with him. He hates that he has to be convinced into doing the right thing and as much as his pride tells him to not fold under the pressure and everything in him screams that they just don’t have the things needed to care for Bubbles, he caves. 

“I’ll go let the lady know we’ll take her home then.” 

“Thank you. I love you.” Felix’s eyes are shiny with tears and Chan walks out to the front desk. 

“I love you too.”

The next few days are a struggle. For starters, they quickly learn that Bubbles doesn’t do well in cars. Chan tries to tell himself, while he’s stuck outside in the heat cleaning chunky throw up out of his back seats, that it could have happened with literally any other dog. They decide to take Bubbles to their local vet the next day to get another check up and have exactly what’s going on inside her explained. They recieve some ointment for her sores and a referral to an animal chiropractor. Felix heads to the pet store for other necessities, leaving Chan and Bubbles in the car for a few minutes. 

It’s the longest few minutes Chan’s experienced. He blasts the aircon and bops his head along to Felix’s car playlist and Bubbles is dead silent. It reminds Chan of those Facebook mum posts about children being too quiet and panic creeps up on him as he looks in the rearview mirror and makes eye contact with deep brown eyes. 

“I guess you’re lucky Felix met you.” He feels sour saying it, but it’s true. Bubbles whines high in the back of her throat. 

Before their stare off continues, there's a knock on Chan’s window and his boyfriend is there, smiling wide as he gestures to the back of the car. Chan pops the boot and holds his thumb up to Felix who dashes out of sight. Within a few seconds, the passenger door opens and an elated Felix hops right in. The sight makes Chan smile as well. 

“Had fun in there?” Felix hums a sound of approval and leans over to pull the older into a kiss. It’s short and sweet but it makes Chan’s heartbeat pick up regardless. 

He leans in to steal another when he’s interrupted by Bubbles whining louder in the back seat. Turning around in his seat to face the wheel, he starts the car without paying any mind to the whining that's getting more frequent and he hopes Felix can’t detect the annoyance radiating off him. 

Felix has a set feeding regime for Bubbles and he even turns it into an arts and crafts project, the colourful schedule laminated and now hanging on their fridge. To take things further, he bought a small planner that lives in the small container on the back of the pantry so they can document all of Bubbles meals. Chan thinks it's over the top, all he needs to know is how much to feed her and he’s good to go, but Felix insists it’s so they can keep track in case anything goes wrong. The fact that his boyfriend even thinks anything would go awry forces the negative feelings back into Chan’s stomach.

“Well hopefully things go smoothly.” He tries to be supportive because in the end Bubbles is their dog, not just Felix’s. 

“I can’t do this alone though Chan. I need your help.” Felix fixes him with a waiting gaze. Chan feels like he’s being berated by a parent all over again. 

“I’ll help, I swear.” He gets a satisfied smile from the younger. 

They run through the schedule together, Felix explaining what to do and why they’re doing it. It’s a lot. There’s so many times throughout the day that they have to feed Bubbles less than a handful of some overpriced puppy food that's filled with proteins and other good stuff. He also suggests that they make sure the water bowl is filled at all times, because they don’t want her getting dehydrated on top of everything else. And that’s just the food part. They have to keep an eye on her for any signs of sickness, whether it be digestive issues or illnesses. Even the slightest temperature shift could mean something is not going right. Chan sighs, resting his head in his hands as Felix still continues, mentioning a walking schedule and perhaps looking into the chiropractor that the vets mentioned.

“You’re acting like she has to be monitored twenty four seven.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I never wanted to be a helicopter parent babe.” 

“Not twenty four seven. Just, mostly when she eats, goes to the toilet and like… Every hour or so.” Walking over to stand by Chan’s side, Felix takes his face between his palms and runs them up into his hair. 

“That still sounds like a lot of the time.” Chan’s not bothered anymore, Felix’s hands brushing through his hair calming him down. 

“I know it’s a lot, but we have each other. Thank you for helping me help her.” 

Two weeks fly by with few slip ups. Bubbles ate up every tiny meal which was a huge relief for Felix and Chan and she didn’t have any tummy issues besides the one time that she threw up on their driveway but Felix chalked that up to the fact that she had just been in the car. They managed to book her in for an appointment with the chiropractor and it went well, the only things that seemed to be wrong was a minor hip issue and some underdeveloped muscles in her legs that could be fixed with some stretching. They were surprised at how little was wrong with her. Chan brought up that the vets thought she had been abused to which the chiropractor had mentioned that if there was any, it was very minor internally and more so whatever was under the bandages. His gut twisted at the thought, he hadn’t exactly seen what was under the bandages since Felix was the one who washed and cared for them. He left feeling heavy. He’d been feeling heavy the whole time they’d had Bubbles. 

Going for walks was also something that seemed to go well. They weren't exactly walks just yet, seeing as they only started in their backyard, somewhere secluded and away from any other pets and people. It wasn’t exactly the intensive exercise that Chan had thought Felix was talking about, instead it was really chill. He liked to just sit on the stairs leading out from the laundry and keep an eye on Bubbles as she walked around the small yard, sniffing at everything. Felix was more involved however, finding ways to get Bubbles to follow him in order to get her steps up. She seemed to be a very observant dog. Felix always said she was just a smart dog, but Chan always felt a little unsettled, especially when he would walk in on Felix sitting across from her as they stared into each other’s eyes for a weirdly long time. His boyfriend insisted it was just a bonding technique.

Chan stopped hating Bubbles over the two weeks. Well he didn’t hate her, he just hated that getting her healthy took so much out of him. Time, effort, patience, money, sleep. All lost to fixing someone else’s problem. He wasn’t an angry person usually, but watching how the treatment from Bubbles’ previous owners has affected her sent molten disappointment through his veins and suddenly nothing he was concerned about mattered anymore. Felix had comforted him late at night, hours after they fed Bubbles, wrapping him tightly in his small arms and wiping hot tears from his cheeks as his own silently fell. 

Bubbles and Chan got close. It used to be Felix and Bubbles but now it was Chan and Bubbles with a side of Felix. Felix was home everyday, steadily working from his small home office and while Chan didn’t get that luxury, since being a mechanic meant that he had to show up, he did not skip a beat in making sure he spent as much of his free time as he could with Bubbles. Wherever Chan was, Bubbles was right there beside him. 

Except for the nights. Usually. Bubbles slept on her mat in the living room, but some mornings Felix would wake up early to feed her and he’d find her curled up on the carpet beside Chan’s side of the bed. He questioned his boyfriend about it some days later when he started consistently waking up to Bubbles in their room. 

“You’re teaching her bad habits.” Bacon and mushrooms sizzle in the pan making Felix raise his voice even more than he’d have to in order to make sure Chan heard him all the way in the bedroom. 

“Would you rather I sleep on the couch then?” He walked out, boots thudding heavily on the tiles as he made his way to said couch to tie the laces. 

“If it means she won’t think our room is her room then yes.” Chan feigns offence, gasping dramatically and it makes Felix laugh. “I’m serious! You can’t keep bringing her in at night.” 

“It’s just that I’ve been having some bad dreams and I just need to make sure she’s okay.” He tries to play it off as whatever but Felix knows him better than anyone else and there’s only so much he can hide from his boyfriend. 

“Why would she not be okay?” Felix is done dishing up breakfast, something hearty and making Chan salivate from the smell. He takes a seat at the kitchen island and digs in. 

“I’ve just been having horrible dreams about her.” 

“‘ike wo?” Chan tells his boyfriend to not speak with his mouth full to which the blond just rolls his eyes and makes a show of swallowing. “Like what?” 

“I don't know just like, accidentally hitting her with my car, or her getting worse and dying and shit.” He whistles for Bubbles, who perks up instantly and trots over to his side. He pets her head with one hand while he eats with the other. 

“They’re just drea-”

“They feel real.” He cuts off Felix, unsure of why he’s suddenly so worked up over it. 

“Okay. Nothings going to happen to her though, she’s safe with us.” Holding up his last egg, Felix offers it to Chan in an attempt to comfort him and Chan eats it off his fork, thanking him.

He leaves for work shortly after. Felix stands at the door after kissing him goodbye and Bubbles is there like a shadow, staring. Watching. It catches Chan off guard, the weirdly cold expression on her face sending crawls up his spine and he shakes the feeling away. He catches Felix’s blown kiss through the window, blushing and forgets about the way Bubbles had looked weirdly alien for a second. 

He flips over the calendar on the kitchen wall. October already. It was nearing a month of having Bubbles and things were looking much better. She’s happily eating a normal amount of dog food and her bones have started to disappear under soft, yellow fur and fat. Happy dog, happy life is what Chan says, because things have honestly gone upwards. He’s stopped arguing with Felix and after thinking that a dog would be what ended things, he’s happier knowing that it brought them closer. 

Felix takes Bubbles on real walks now, in the afternoons right before Chan gets home from work and sometimes they make it to the driveway at the same time. Those moments give Chan butterflies. It makes him feel like they’re on their way to being a proper family and he thinks about the ring that’s been living in the back corner of his junk drawer for the last year. He’d been planning to propose for a long, long time now. They’d been together for an incredible 5 years, their anniversary a few weeks before they took in Bubbles and if this year wasn’t right, he would wait another just so it was perfect. 

And just as things started lining up, just as Chan was thinking about planning for that perfect moment again, things suddenly went very downhill. 

Neither Chan or Felix knew of any cases where dogs gained twice their weight overnight. It was such a dramatic difference that Chan wasn’t even sure if it was Bubbles when he woke up at 6am, give or take a few minutes, to give Bubbles her first meal of the day. She wasn’t overweight but she was much more full than when they put her to bed the night before. 

“Lix, can you ring the vet please?” Chan kept his eyes on the labrador who hadn’t even woken up to his voice yet, calling for his boyfriend over his shoulder.

“You have ears and a mouth.” He can hear Felix sleepily giggling to himself from their room. 

“Can you come here then? Real quick.” He’s in no mood to joke around.

Bubbles begins to stir from the yelling. Dread washes over Chan coldly and he’s frozen in place. He knows that she’s harmless, but his gut feelings are going off and he knows something is very wrong. He watches as Bubbles yawns and he’s suddenly aware of how sharp her canines are. He’d never noticed before, or he’d never really thought about them too hard. They’re much sharper than dogs teeth should be. He grew up with many pets, and sure they had pretty gnarly looking fangs, but Bubbles whole mouth looked predatory. Like it should belong to a wolf or something. It just wasn’t right, it wasn’t domestic. 

Felix still hasn’t made it out of their room. Chan can hear him rustling around for something and he needs his boyfriend to hurry up. He opens his mouth to call for the other when Felix’s voice sounds from his side. 

“Woah.” They both just look at Bubbles. “Someone grew.”

“Someone grew? Babe, she’s fucking twice her size.” Chan stares at Felix incredulously but he quickly realises that Felix is just as perplexed as he is. 

“I’ll go call the vet.” 

He doesn't know if he should shake Bubbles awake or not. He just stands in their living room stupidly and he can faintly hear the murmuring of Felix’s voice from the office. Thinking that he should probably do something, Chan squats beside Bubbles and hesitantly places a hand on her back. She doesn’t move, which is both worrying and relieving, so Chan starts to stroke her tentatively, keeping a close watch on her face. When the petting doesn’t do anything, he braves nearing her face, fingers softly scratching behind her ears like she enjoys. A low grumble comes from her sleeping form and he decides to try calling her. 

“Hey Bubbles,” He nudges her, “Wake up time.” 

Bubbles does in fact wake up after Chan calls her name a few more times. The time taken for her to wake up is concerning and so he googles if lethargy is something to be wary of. Right away the search tells him that it’s something that should be monitored. Great. 

“The vets said to take her in,” Felix is beside Chan again, cautious of Bubbles, “They say it could be a parasite or something.” 

It turns out to definitely be something. The vets are positive there’s something going on inside Bubbles, but despite all the testing and scanning they can do, they’re unsure of what exactly it is. 

“With the drastic weight gain it’s only safe to say it’s parasitic. We could keep her here and run some more tests if you’d like?” The way the vet was able to casually run his hands along Bubble’s spine didn’t sit right with Chan. 

“I think I’d prefer if we just took her home. She hasn’t spent a night away from us before.” 

He knows that he should really let the vets look at her some more but the thought of Bubbles not being with them for a night twists Chan’s gut. He can’t help feeling like something bad was going to happen if she was out of his sight. 

“We’ll give you some medication then to help her out. Even though we don’t know exactly what it is, we can try to treat it to the best of our abilities.” 

More meds. It’s fine. Recovery isn’t easy and Chan was quickly learning that. 

It would be selfish almost to wish that things went back to normal right away, but with their track record, Chan really should not be surprised anymore. If anything it was frustrating, knowing that all the weird, weird shit only happened around him. It felt like a dream, probably his sleep clouded mind making things up but Chan could swear on his life it happened. 

Sometime during the early hours of the morning, when the sky was still dark, Chan woke up to weird sounds coming from their bedroom door. He sat up groggily and strained his ears to see if any of the sounds would continue, but he was met with silence. It sounded like shuffling, or nudging. He hadn’t heard any other sounds so it was probably nothing, just auditory hallucinations following him from his dream. 

Sleepily, he opened his eyes and noticed the door had been cracked open the tiniest bit, a sliver of pale blue light streaking across the carpet. Felix must’ve not closed the door properly before jumping in bed, and just as Chan goes to swing his legs off the side of the mattress to close the door, he sees a dark figure by the corner of Felix’s end.

It’s crouched. Chan doesn’t know what it is but it’s close to the ground and it’s big. He stills, wondering if this is some weird sleep paralysis kind of thing or if he’s not even awake. He can feel his heartbeat begin to quicken in his chest, a thumping that seems to be the only thing heard in the silence. His eyes adjust to the darkness finally and he sees it.

The glowing. 

There’s two round glowing orbs in the darkness. It’s not a reflection glow, no. The glow is its own light source. They can only be eyes, and the soft, almost throbbing light they eject lets Chan know that he’s looking at a dog. A long snout becomes visible in the dark, and soft hair catches the green glow. It’s staring at Felix, unmoving. The energy around it, Chan can only describe as wobbly, a weird unsettling comfort. Bubbles. 

He whisper yells her name into the room, somehow finding the courage to break the silence once he knows what he’s looking at. His eyes are really playing tricks on him now, as Bubbles’ figure seems to meld into the darkness again, becoming fuzzy around the edges. Something long breaks away from her form, like a tentacle of some sort, too thin to be her tail and it stretches towards his boyfriend’s feet. It’s only for a second and Chan doesn’t even know if what he saw was real because he’s immediately flicking on the bedside lamp and the warm light that floods the room makes it very obvious there was no glowing or weird tentacle protruding from Bubbles. 

“Out.” The command cuts cold through the room. He’s pissed now from being woken up in the middle of the night and all the uneasy feelings of fright have dissipated into feelings of anger. 

Bubbles doesn’t listen so Chan has to drag her out, not once being afraid of whatever she could potentially do. She’s so heavy and her gaze is still locked on Felix, but he manages to get her out of their room and back onto her mat. The weird tingles of fear come back when he has his back turned to her, so he speedwalks quietly through the house until he’s back in the safety of his bedroom. He makes sure the door is shut all the way this time. 

Something heavy weighs down on Chan the next day. He can’t help but think of that long thing, breaking out from Bubble’s shadow figure and twisting around in the air. He thinks he can hear it now too, the sound of something slick and slimy playing in his head as he replays the moment over and over. 

“What are we here for?” 

Felix pulls him out of his head, hand squeezing gently around his forearm. They’ve pulled up to a hardware store. 

“A lock.” They walk in, Felix trailing behind Chan as he makes a beeline for the aisle that holds all the locks. 

“What do you need a lock for?” Felix catches up, hand slipping into its place with Chan’s and their fingers lace together. 

“Just our room, that’s all.” He tries to be nonchalant but he knows that there’s nothing he can put the blame on when Felix asks him why they need a lock for their room. 

“I’d just feel safer.” Chan shrugs, he’s not lying.

“Safer? From what, Bubbles?” Felix laughs as if he’s told the funniest joke and when Chan doesn’t reply in the same joking tone, Felix turns to face him. “You’re not serious.” 

“I would just feel more secure.”

“What is she gonna do, open our door?” 

“Yes.” 

“For fucks sake, she’s a dog-“

“She did it last night.” 

His boyfriend stares at him unbelieving. Chan knows he’s not lying and he can see Felix literally pick apart his face for any traces that he is, and when he finds none he sighs. 

“We’re going to talk about this when we get home. I’m heading to the paint section.” Felix breaks off from him and walks away with what looks like tired concern written all over his face.

He drives them home, convincing Chan that he should just take a breather. They stop by a take out restaurant on the way back and Felix orders an extra burger for Chan. 

“There’s weird tension around you and I know food will help solve that, sort of.” That’s his reasoning and it does make Chan feel in the slightest bit lighter. He leans over in his seat to press a kiss against Felix’s cheek. 

It’s well into the evening when they do talk. Chan tells Felix about the weird door noises and about how Bubbles was staring at him from the end of their bed and that it scared the shit out of him and left him wondering how she even opened the door. He doesn’t mention the glowing eyes or the tentacle thing, and Felix catches on quickly that he’s holding something back. 

“You’re not telling me everything.” His eyes are narrow and inspecting. 

“How do you always know that?” Chan laughs, placing a hand on his boyfriend’s thigh and captures his lips in a kiss. 

He’s really not trying to divert the conversation. Mostly. He’s just overcome with a sense of feeling loved that he can’t help but slowly make his way into Felix’s lap to deepen the kiss. His lips taste like fast food grease and Chan’s sure his do too, but he parts his lips anyway to lick softly into Felix’s mouth. 

“I just do,” Felix cuts the kiss short, right at the good part too. “Now spill.”

Chan climbs off from Felix and instead rolls over so he can rest his head on the other’s thigh. His fingers play distractedly with the wooly tassels that hang off the blanket draped over their bed as he tries to figure out how to lead Felix into this conversation. 

“You’re going to think I’m actually crazy.” 

“Okay you’re crazy, whatever.” Felix lightly tugs his hair to get him to move on. 

“Her eyes were glowing,” Chan looks up to gauge Felix’s reaction. “And she grew like a tentacle or something.” 

Felix starts slowly nodding and Chan can tell he’s trying to come up with something to say that wouldn’t make him feel invalidated. Chan knows he doesn't believe him though, because if he did Felix wouldn’t be holding back the laugh that’s threatening to spill past his smile. 

“Take me seriously, please.” Sitting up across from his boyfriend, Chan sighs. 

“I’m trying it’s just, glowing eyes? Tentacles? That’s physically impossible-” 

“I’m telling the truth I swear.” It’s frustrating that Felix doesn’t believe him and angry tears start forming in Chan’s eyes.

“It doesn’t make sense.” 

“Bubbles doesn’t make sense. She should be dead!” He stands up in a huff and already the floodgates have opened.

“What the fuck?” 

Chan knows he’s hit a nerve and he knows he’s probably about to go too far but he can’t stop himself. All the negative emotions he thought he had overcome feel like they never even disappeared. Bubbles was an honest pain to deal with, and Chan knows there’s probably a special space saved in hell for him because he just can’t find it in him to love the sick dog. He doesn’t know if he ever did love her or if it was just a front to please Felix because right in this moment he hates Bubbles. 

“I can’t stand her. Why did you have to go and choose her? What was wrong with the others?” His cheeks are hot and wet with tears and Felix is blurry on the couch in front of him but the hurt is evident on his face. 

“You know she was going to die in there.” Hearing how cold Felix’s voice sounds compared to his own raised voice makes Chan cry harder. “You told me you would help me.”

“I did and I’m done.” 

In unfortunate timing, Bubbles paws on the laundry door asking to come in. Felix stands up and moves around Chan without looking at him. 

“What the fuck am I meant to do then? This was a joint decision, Chris.” 

He winces, his English name sounding foreign coming from his boyfriend. He doesn't know what to tell him, all he does is stand there and cry silently as he watches Felix walk back into the living room with Bubbles trailing behind. He feels guilty seeing her. 

“I’m sorry.” Chan apologises thickly. 

“Don’t lie to me again.” 

Without pausing, Felix leads Bubbles into their bedroom and closes the door behind him. 

Chan wakes up to his head pounding and bright light hitting his face. He feels like he’s hungover from a night of heavy drinking when all he had done was cry himself to sleep. He can feel that his face hasn’t had time to rest, his eyes feel heavy and puffy still. Silently, he makes his way to the kitchen, body stiff from sleeping on the couch and he pours himself a tall glass of water. He can’t hear any noises, the house dead quiet and Chan suddenly feels very lonely. He didn’t realise how much of a comforting presence a pet had until they’re not there, and he thinks he misses Bubbles and the sound of her walking around despite the uncomfortable energy she has. 

And he misses Felix. It was only a night but it felt like much longer. He can’t recall there ever being a moment in their relationship that they had fought to such a degree and he’s crying all over again. He drags himself into his room, hoping that maybe Felix was still curled up on their bed but he was met with an empty space. There’s an indent of where the other had slept and Chan curls himself up in it, tears soaking into the sheets. He doesn’t know how long he lays there in the dark and he doesn’t even realise that his crying has stopped either, dehydration settling in. His head still pounds, heavier and louder than before but he doesn’t have any energy in him to remedy it. He notices the light that was peeking through the cracks in the blinds has begun to dim, meaning that hours, if not the whole day has passed. 

The sound of a car door slamming shut grabs Chan’s attention. He sits up, waiting for the telltale jingle of Felix’s keys and when he does he jolts up. He doesn’t even pause to acknowledge his dizzy spell, instead choosing to stumble out into the entryway. 

“Felix, I’m really, really-” 

All words die in his throat because Felix looks mauled. His arms are covered in scratches, dried blood crusting around the open wounds and Chan’s positive he can see fresh blood soaking Felix’s shirt. 

“What happened?” His voice is shaky in his ears and he wants to reach out and cradle the other in his arms but he doesn’t want to touch. He finally takes notice of Bubbles and her honey fur is matted with red. Chan’s confused, a million thoughts running through his mind and his blood starts to boil.

“We were just playing, calm down.” Chan notices a slight slur to Felix’s words. 

“Felix, you’re… You need to go to hospital.” He starts to panic, taking in his boyfriend's pale complexion. 

“No. You need to listen,” Felix sways in his place. “We’re fine.” 

“You’re not.” 

His body moves on it’s own. It seems to happen in slow motion and a blur at the same time. Chan’s already disoriented, coming out of almost fainting to lunge forward, catching Felix just in time before he hits the tiles. His mind continues to race, not sure what to do first as the younger is dead weight against him, eyes rolled back in his head. He catches Bubbles walk past them to get inside the house, unbothered. He’s frantic, lifting Felix off the floor to carry him inside, setting him onto the lounge. He’s babbling, speaking nonsensical words and repeating apologies in an effort to try and keep Felix awake but he gets no response. He looks down at himself, a damp feeling gaining his attention, to see a dark red stain on his shirt and he’s reminded of the blood he saw before. Immediately, he lifts the hem of Felix’s top. 

He chokes on a sob. 

There’s a deep gash making its way across the expanse of Felix’s stomach. Chan wonders how Felix was even able to drive home in this state. He needs to stop the bleeding, or at least alleviate it. He rushes to grab a tea towel, kitchen drawers slamming on their rollers. When he gets back to Felix, he presses the cloths to the wound firmly. They soak up Felix’s blood like a sponge. His own hands are slick with red and the air is sharp with the smell of metal. 

Bubbles sits to the side, watching. The blood in her fur has dried and it paints a sinister mask on her face. 

He’s exhausted from crying. He hasn’t cried this much at all in his life and sleep is tugging at his eyelids but he needs to take care of Felix. Nausea hits him like a wave. Bubbles is nowhere near him but her presence tickles the hairs on his neck and makes his skin crawl. Just being in the same room as her makes him livid, a furious fire burning under his skin. He hates her. He hates what she did to Felix. 

“You’re a monster!” He screams at Bubbles from his place on the floor. She continues to just sit there, unwavering, as if she’s not even aware of what's happening. As if she doesn’t care. 

His cries rouse Felix somewhat, a barely audible murmur signalling his consciousness. His face twists in pain and his hands shoot towards his stomach. He’s still delirious and his eyes are unfocused but Chan takes this opportunity to run and grab his phone. 

“Press down on this for me,” He’s pulling Felix’s hands into position, guiding him to apply pressure. “I’m going to quickly call the ambulance okay?” 

His phone isn’t too far away, just on the far side of the kitchen island and he can make it there in enough time that Felix doesn’t have to hold himself together for long. His fingers slide across his screen, painting it crimson as he fumbles to punch in the correct number. He gets a hold of an operator, frantically spitting out information and in a split second his world crumbles. 

Supernatural, paranormal, other worldly.

Chan doesn’t know what’s happening. He can’t properly process the possibility that any of this is happening. 

Felix sits up, curling in on himself but he beckons Bubbles forward. She walks towards him casually, as if she would any other day except her body is rippling. With every step she takes, it looks like there’s something large moving inside of her. Twisting and turning. Chan watches in horror as his boyfriend’s hand, the one that an engagement ring should be adorning, connects with Bubble’s snout. The dog nuzzles into his palm, body still distorting and shifting under her fur. 

It’s like a bad dream. 

Bubbles’ mouth opens slowly, as if she was yawning but she just doesn't stop. Chan watches her jaw open wider and wider, and he listens to the wet sound of flesh and muscle tearing mixing with horrid cracks of bone as Bubbles’ head rips in half. His phone falls out of his grasp as shock freezes him like stone. He believes he’s goes deaf, the only thing he can hear is the high pitch ringing in his ears. He can see all the way down her throat. He seems to be seeing right into her, down into her organs and whatever is writhing around inside her is frenzied. He can’t even call out to Felix to move. His boyfriend just sits there in what looks like anticipation, not concerned by the way that Bubbles seems to be vibrating with the intensity of the movement from within. 

A blinding green suddenly floods the house. Chan traces it to Bubbles’ eyes, the memory of the night he first saw that happen makes his gut clench. Bubbles stops moving, her lower jaw dangling in its place. Chan is frozen in fear, wondering if this was the end of this terrible, bad dream and he’s waking up. He can’t really make out anything through the green glow, just the silhouettes of Felix and Bubbles. 

For a second, they seem frozen in time. Despite the terror that wholly encompasses him, Chan feels tranquility in the moment. Felix turns to him, a sad, weary smile donning his face. Chan can only just see tear tracks highlighted by Bubbles’ glowing eyes trailing down the younger’s face. They’re stuck staring at each other. Longing for each other. Chan wants to stay here, in the eerie green forever if it means that he'll be with Felix. The serenity is disrupted almost as quickly as it started. 

In his peripheral, Chan notices something worm its way out of Bubbles’ throat. It’s huge. A worm-like figure. He wants to look at it to confirm what he’s seeing. 

“Don’t take your eyes off mine.” Felix begs him with every fibre of his being. 

Chan can tell something terribly wrong is a split second away from happening. He finds himself pleading. 

“Come over here,” He wants to pluck Felix from the lounge and run but all he can do is desperately motion for the other to move. “Lix… Baby, please just come here.” 

The worm thing continues to grow larger and larger. Chan can’t tell what it is exactly, some sort of weird alien parasite or something, but it’s big enough now to swallow something whole. He breaks out in a cold sweat as his stomach drops. 

The loud ringing is back, accompanied with the emergency operator’s voice. 

“Sir, I hope you know this number is for emergencies only. It is a legal offence-.”  
He sees Felix’s mouth move.

“I love you.” 

He doesn’t tear his gaze from Felix’s eyes like he was told. He sinks into a familiar, comfortable brown, reminiscing all the years they spent together until there’s nothing to sink into anymore. 

Chan sees it now. 

Fleshy. Wrinkly. Grotesque. 

It wriggles it’s way back down into the bottomless pit of Bubbles’ body like a constrictor, taking Felix with it. He’s at a loss of emotions. Empty. He watches as Bubbles’ jaw seems to knit itself back together, tendons and muscles weaving and stitching until she’s back to normal. The glowing is gone. No trace of anyone else ever being in the room besides the blood stains on the couch. Bubbles stretches in her place and does a full body shake. Her ears and tail make flapping sounds in the silence. 

She approaches Chan with some kind of pep in her step, stopping by his feet. She sits with perfect posture and she smiles. Her tongue lolls out in a giddy smile as she pants, eyes bright and shining.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have made it this far, thank you so so much for reading, I really appreciate it <3 I hope that whoever submitted this prompt doesn't hate me for the route I took, despite practically giving me free rein HHH 
> 
> Happy Halloween !!
> 
> socials: 
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